Wednesday, February 12, 2020 Vol. 43, No. 7
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YOUR LOCAL PAPER
Holden crowd expresses anger after hearing school earmarked for closure Patricia Harcourt Editor
Holden parents expressed anger after hearing at a meeting Monday night that the school board is proposing the closure of their elementary school. The meeting was fairly calm until Battle River School Division's Director of Facilities Percy Roberts discussed utilization rates at the schools in Holden and Ryley. Ryley could hold 313 students but is only utilizing 35 per cent of that capacity with 108 students currently enrolled. Holden has a net capacity for 585 students but with only 265 students, it's only using 45 per cent of its capacity. Roberts said the schools "are both well maintained, based on building condition, facility reports and resources available along with the programming needs of students." But the announcement that the school at Holden was the one BRSD recommended to close drew an audible gasp: "It is our recommendation that, if Holden and Ryley schools are consolidated into one K-9 (kindergarten to Grade 9) school site, the site selected would be Ryley School," he said. Roberts then said anyone with a question could write it down on a slip of paper to be answered later, but it was obvious people wanted more direct communication. The format was set by the school board and wasn't supposed to involve direct questions from the crowd. Instead, they were to write questions on a slip of paper and have a BRSD official respond at an appropriate time in the discussion. However, people started getting angry when there was no avenue to question the official responding, or pose a follow up question. The school board plans to vote on the recommendation at the March 19 meeting. The proposal they are considering
would close down the senior high at Ryley and disperse these students to schools in Tofield to the west and Viking to the east. The Ryley School would then remain open and serve as an elementary/junior high school (K-9). Elementary students from Holden would be bussed to Ryley and Holden school closed. The five minute break after Roberts' announcement of that closure did not serve to calm things down. The next speaker discussed what the transportation needs of students would be in the new configuration. Director of Transportation Garth Rapson stated the transportation boundaries for a K-9 school in Ryley would be based on current boundaries, and Grades 10 to 12 students would be shuttled to their new designated school. Rapson said there would be a maximum of 20 minutes added on to student pickup times, which caused a reaction from parents concerned about how long their children would have to ride a bus every morning and night. A board on the side of the room showed the proposed routes for the various destinations of students and many flocked over to check it out. Earlier, board chair Norm Erickson tried to reassure those present. "We're here to listen and we'll take it all into consideration before making our decision," he said, at the meeting in March. But the realities are that "rural populations are declining and (school) funding is based on the number of students," he said. In fact, the province is freezing this funding level for the next four years and, with provincial student populations rising, it likely means even less per student for the school district in coming years. The board's $4 million budget shortfall has to be made up for the upcoming school year. With reserves now used up except for about $60,000, other methods are required to balance the
Beaver County Division 3 Councillor Gene Hrabec (middle left) makes an impassioned plea to BRSD not to hurt the community by closing the Holden elementary school down. budget. "We have to run a balanced budget," said Erickson. "We don't have a choice‌We're not expecting anything miraculous to happen‌We have to find $4 million." But some protested that the $300,000 saved wasn't worth the price of closing the school. One man received loud clapping at his suggestion they could have a K-12 school. But Erickson said there has been a longstanding problem of senior high students going to other schools. "We are losing them to other divisions," he said. "We are asking why." He offered that the students are leaving to find opportunities they can't get locally in their own school due to its low enrolment. Another well received suggestion was to dismiss three of the four superintendents in the school division, one man stating that this saving on salaries alone would allow them to keep their school. "Do we need four superintendents to run it (the school division)?" he asked. The reply from BRSD was that four superintendents were necessary. After questions about still having to
combine classes even with a consolidated Ryley school, a man angrily shouted that the officials want to stop the meeting because they "don't like the questions." He also received crowd support. Another man called the consolidation a "bandaid" that won't help in the long term, predicting Ryley school would also close within five years. At the end of the meeting, Gene Hrabec, Beaver County Councillor for Division 3, asked to speak as an elected official on behalf of his area. "This is our community," he said. "It is my duty to take a position that is best for the county." The county and both villages are trying to support local communities, he said, asking: "How do we get anybody to move here if you close our schools?" Hrabec didn't like the idea of "pitting Holden against Ryley," noting he believed that "the decision (to close Holden and consolidate at Ryley) is already made. "So Holden is done," he concluded, wondering why the decision is being "so rushed?" Hrabec said an earlier decision not to allow principals to See HOLDEN SCHOOL P14